THUNDER BAY – The pandemic may have put a proper celebration on hold for now, but Thunder Bay resident Phyllis Stokaluk certainly had no shortage of well-wishers as she marked her 100th birthday on Friday.
The newly minted centenarian said her day had been filled to the brim with birthday wishes (including messages from the prime minister, the pope, and Mayor Bill Mauro), even if many couldn’t take place in person.
“I woke up fine – it wasn’t until 9 o’clock, because I do not get up early in the morning… I thought, I’ll go get my cereal ready,” she said. “The phone rang, and from then on, I had a heck of a time trying to get my breakfast… The phone and the door [haven’t stopped], and my house is like a flower shop.”
Stokaluk was thrilled to be surrounded by a small group of close friends and family in the backyard of the same Current River house she’s made home for decades on Friday.
A fuller celebration would come later, when public health rules allow, said her son Steve Stokaluk.
Stokaluk, who was born in Port Arthur in 1921, worked at the Strathcona Golf Course clubhouse for a decade in the 1950s after she took on a job offer originally intended for her late husband, Steve.
It’s just one example of the get-up-and-go attitude that’s served her well throughout her long life. That quality is her best guess when asked the inevitable question about what's behind her longevity.
“People have asked me, ‘what’s your secret?’” she said. “I don’t have a secret – I say, just stay active… I think maybe I do too much, I don’t sit still.”
Steve said his mother had always been in constant motion.
“She’s still baking and cooking for the great-great-grandkids – there’s a lot of them,” he said. “She don’t stop.”
Stokaluk wasn’t about to change that as she moved into her second century Friday, saying she expected to be celebrating with loved ones until it got dark.
